Despite union protestations that teachers are professionals, they're not paid as professionals. Will that change?

I'm not speaking primarily of salary levels, but method of compensation. Generally, teachers are paid not for performance but for seniority (plus number of university credits), which makes them more like line workers at the Assemble-a-Widget factory than professionals such as surgeons or accountants or architects, who earn their pay based on performance-based reputation.

But that idea just might change a bit in Idaho:

Tying teacher pay to certain measures of performance, such as student test scores, is a controversial concept that has gained little traction in Idaho. But Monday, an array of groups ranging from the state teachers union to the state Board of Education spoke out for some type of new pay system to reward Idaho’s best teachers for outstanding work, rather than just rewarding years of experience and additional college credits and degrees.

Don't get too excited, though. The teachers union president opposes any merit plan that would do away with tenure. Still, it appears that the union has made some progress towards accepting the idea.